LEST WE FORGET
Flight Sergeant Alan Gordon HENSLEY
Service No: 438907
Born: Diapur VIC, 19 October 1921
Enlisted in the RAAF: 20 December 1943
Unit: No. 5 Operational Training Unit
Died: Aircraft Accident (No. 5 Operational Training Unit Beaufighter aircraft A19-166), off the NSW Coast, 21 September 1945, Aged 23 Years
Buried: Unrecovered
CWGC Additional Information: Son of Gordon Hay Hensley and May Victoria Hensley; husband of Joan Hensley, of East Malvern, Victoria
Roll of Honour: Unknown
Remembered: Panel 6, Sydney Memorial, Rookwood NSW
Remembered: Panel 112, Commemorative Area, Australian War Memorial, Canberra ACT
At 0810 hours on the 21 September 1945, Beaufighter A19-166 took off detailed to carry out a seaward training flight. The route was Williamtown – 34.00S 155.00E – 31.00S 155.20E – Tacking Point – along the coast to Sugar Loaf – Williamtown. The aircraft was in radio communication with base. At 1046 hours a message was received giving A19-166’s position at 1037 hours as 31.00S 155.20E and an ETA at Tacking Point of 1110 hours. At 1113 hours, the aircraft again signalled but it was unintelligible. Nothing was heard after that and the aircraft failed to return to base.
Extensive searches were conducted but no trace of the missing aircraft or crew members was found. It was presumed that the aircraft had crashed into the sea.
The crew members of A19-166 were:
Flight Sergeant Alan Gordon Hensley (438907) (Navigator Wireless)
Warrant Officer Allan Frank Pitt (432259) (Pilot)
References:
Australian War Memorial Roll of Honour On-Line Records
Commonwealth War Graves Commission On-Line Records
Department of Veterans’ Affairs On-Line WWII Nominal Roll
National Archives of Australia On-Line Record A705, 166/17/1467; A9845, 20
Bibliography:
Parnell, N.M. (Neville M.) Whispering Death: A history of the RAAF’s Beaufighter Squadrons, AH & AW Reed, Terry Hills NSW, 1980
Wilson, S. (Stewart) Beaufort, Beaufighter and Mosquito in Australian Service, Aerospace Publications Weston Creek ACT 2611, 1990